Page 4 of Depraved Favors

By the time we check in for our flight and grab a coffee, some of my anger has diminished and I feel more at ease with chatting. It’s odd to go from talking to her about everything to struggling to come up with conversation so she doesn’t feel the tension between us.

“Is everything okay between you and Jacob?” she asks as we sit by the boarding gate.

I shrug. “I guess. I don’t really know what okay feels like anymore.”

Brit rests her head on my shoulder, and I try not to tense at the touch. “I know it’s selfish of me, but I’m really glad you came with me. I was just about to cancel before you texted.”

“Cancel with your dad?” I ask.

She nods. “Yeah, It’s just… weird. I don’t know. It’s always awkward. We have nothing to talk about. Usually I try to spend as much time out of his house as possible while I’m there.”

It doesn’t surprise me, most of our friendship consists of her coming to my house. I’ve met Elise a handful of times, but never her father. Brit goes out of her way to avoid anything to do with him, and the one time I asked her about it, she told me he’s just a deadbeat dad.

“Well, I’ve never been to Big Bear so you’ll have to show me around,” I say with as much enthusiasm as I can muster.

“I’ll wait for our bags,” I tell her as she nods, heading to the bathroom. I walk to the baggage claim, rubbing at my arms when I realize how chilly it is.

“Cold?”

My head tilts to face the man that spoke, and my breath stalls. I’m not sure how far we are from LA, but he has to be a model or actor because holy shit. My self esteem has never really struggled, but the man before me makes me feel unworthy of his attention.

“You cold?” he asks again, nodding to where I’m still absentmindedly rubbing my arms. He doesn’t wait for a reply, just shrugs off his jacket and offers it. I shouldn’t take it, but I shamefully want to know what this god among men smells like.

“Thanks,” I say, wrapping it around me and only catching small hints of spearmint. “I know it’s dumb, but I didn’t think about what the weather would be like when we landed.”

He smiles. “It’s more common than you think. I’m picking up family and they usually forget as well.”

My interest peaks. “Oh, so you live around here?”

“My whole life,” he beams, his shoulders straightening in pride. “You?”

I shake my head. “Just visiting. Any suggestions of what I should see?”

He rubs his thumb along his bottom lip. “A few. But perhaps you’d do me the honor of showing you around?”

“S-sure.”My heart is beating so fast that I worry I may be having a panic attack. I can feel my cheeks burn as the blood rushes to them. He catches my blush and smiles, and my eyes drop briefly to his lips. I’ve never thought someone had kissable lips till now. I would kiss the fuck out of him.

Perhaps I’m thinking about it because I’ve never met someone bold enough to ask a stranger out when they’ve barely met. I might feel a little crazy for agreeing, but something about him made it impossible to say no.

“Oh, good. You two found each other,” Brit says, walking up to us. The spell that had started to weave between us shatters, and I frown.

“What?” I ask.

The man steps forward, pulling her into an odd side type of hug and Brit quickly steps away after. She looks back at me.

“Dad, this is my best friend, Peyton. Pey, this is my dad,” she says, glancing at something on her phone before tucking it into her back pocket with a sigh. “Did you grab our bags?”

The ringing in my ears won’t stop. The man I was just flirting with, the man who just asked me out on a date, is her dad. His shocked expression echoes mine and he turns to me. He recovers first, clearing his throat and holding out his hand. “Owen.”

I shake it flimsily and then pull back.

Brit frowns, taking in what I’m wearing for the first time. “Whose is that?”

I can’t stop my eyes sliding to Owen and he scratches the back of his head, a slight pink darkening his cheeks. “She was cold.”

She crinkles her nose. “You just give random people your clothes?”

“If they need it, yeah.” His tone is less shameful this time, almost like a scold.

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